5 Period Pieces For Those Of Us Who Just Really Want To Pine

Whether you're excited about a new beau or planning on spending the weekend wasting away on the couch Victorian-style, we've got the movie for you.

Emma (2020)

© Focus Features / courtesy Everett Collection

The Need-to-Know: Emma is wealthy, gorgeous, and knows what to do to fix anything. She's quite the matchmaker... except when it comes to her own love life. The problem is, Emma can be a little... insufferable. Snooty. Honestly, she's a little bit of a brat. But who isn't, every once in a while?!

Emma amuses herself by playing matchmaker for others, but she comes a bit late to the realization that what she really wants is love for herself. And when she finally learns a bit of humility, it might not be enough to make up for the damage that big ego has caused...

Autumn de Wilde's airy adaptation of Jane Austen's novel is full of gorgeous pastels and plenty of all-too-relatable moments. It's the perfect lighthearted rom-com for a fun, romantic weekday watch.

Pining Score: 8/10

Our Pairings: A bottle of chilled white wine and sushi takeout.

Where to watch it: Stream it on Peacock.

Anna Karenina (2012)

Laurie Sparham/©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection

The Need-to-Know: Anna Karenina (Kiera Knightley), is the wife of the older, boring Count Karenin (Jude Law). They're rich; they have a beautiful son; they should be happy. But gossip starts stirring in Moscow when Anna starts spending more and more time with the young Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor Johnson). An affair between the two of them would not only be forbidden; it would shake the entire order of the Moscow social scene. Dark and dramatic, this stylized adaptation from director Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) is perfect for when you're in the mood to hope, cry, fall in love, and... most importantly... pine.

Pining Score: 10/10

Our Pairings: Any comfort meal, and a hefty pour of red wine. Or, if you want to be in theme, vodka?

Where to watch it: You'll have to rent this one, but it's worth it! Find it on YouTube, Apple TV, or Google Play for $3.99.

Maurice (1987)

© Cohen Media Group /Courtesy Everett Collection

The Need-to-Know: Hugh Grant. Need we say more? A foggy, atmospheric, moody will-they-won't-they, Maurice tells the story of Maurice Hall (James Wilby), a young man attending Cambridge in Edwardian England, and his rocky affair with a high-society classmate. Sometimes tense, sometimes gentle, Maurice is a groundbreaking piece of LGBT+ cinema that explores what happens to love under the pressure of a society that criminalizes it.

Pining Score: 9/10

Our Pairings: A Lavender St. Germain Gin and Tonic will be necessary to set the mood. But if you don't feel like doing all that... maybe just an elderflower soda.

Where to watch it: Stream it for free on Tubi.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

© Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

The Need-to-Know: When Mr. Dashwood dies, Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters are turned out of their home by their loser brother and his greedy wife. We're talking real nightmarish in-law material. Luckily, the Dashwood women are taken in by Mrs. Dashwood's kind cousin, and soon begin to meet all sorts of dashing gentlemen. At times hilarious, at others devastating, director Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility is a fun, hopeful, romantic watch. Plus, the ever-talented Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay herself, for which she won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a WGA Award.

Pining Score: 9/10

Our Pairings: A mint julep seems apt, somehow — or perhaps a trusty G&T. Nothing too frilly. Or watch it on a lazy afternoon, taken with tea alongside some scones and strawberry jam.

Where to watch it: Watch it on Amazon Prime from $2.99.

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

The Samuel Goldwyn Company / Everett Collection

The Need-to-Know: Men returning at long last from war? Enemies to lovers? Evil schemes? This movie has it all! Based on Shakespeare's popular comedy, Much Ado About Nothing tells the stories of two couples in Messina and what they go through in order to earn that happy ending.

The young Count Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) plans to marry the beautiful Hero (Kate Beckinsale); but the evil Don John plots to ruin her reputation. Gasp!

Meanwhile, the clever and quick-witted Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and facetious Beatrice (Emma Thompson) have been reunited — yes, they know each other, and no, they are not fond of one another. One might go so far as to call it hatred. Or, one might call it repressed feelings. Heavily repressed feelings. Maybe even... Love? Muahahaha!

Pining Score: 7/10

Our Pairings: Watch it with friends, with a charcuterie board and Aperol spritzes crowded on the coffee table.

Where to watch it: Much Ado is free on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Pluto TV!